Carshalton Beeches United
Carshalton Beeches United FC is an English football club based in the London Borough of Sutton, Surrey. They play their home matches at the all seater 2020 capacity Beech Tree Park Stadium in the club colours of Red and Black. Carshalton Beeches United currently reside in English League 1 (E). ---- Club History Carshalton Beeches once again became home to a football club when Beeches United was formed out of the ashes of Carshalton Beeches AFC in early February 2008. Season 6 The first match played by Beeches Utd was against local rivals AFC Carshalton on the 13th February 2008 and ended goalless. The club were put into English League 2 (E4) and played their first competitive match on the 20th March away to Prophet FC which ended 8-0 to Beeches. Nine games into the season saw Beeches topping the league, mainly due to a massive handful of goals from strike-partnership Luftu Akgunes and Angus Perkins. However, the club went bankrupt in late April due to poor management of funds and had to be completely reorganized. On top of this the club was deducted 15 points pushing them down the league from 1st to 6th place. The first match back from bankruptcy ended 12-0 to Beeches against majaaaa, assuring fans that the club would commit to a promotion battle. A few key signings later and Beeches managed to scramble back to second place, helped greatly again by an impressive partnership upfront of Patrik Lukats and the on-loan Merlin Bourke, scoring 84 goals between them. After 13 wins out of 13 games Beeches Utd finished just 6 points adrift of the league champion. Season 7 Carshalton Beeches started their second season, after a fairly successful pre-season (including a well fought 2-2 draw with top side Cobham SGS Eagles) with both eyes fixed on promotion to league 1. Seven high-profile signings were brought in to bolster the squad ready to battle for the much sought after first place. Things started well with a 5-0 opening victory away from home for the Beeches who then went on a 13 match winning streak in all competitions. The team faltered slightly when they crashed out of the National Cup to strong side Arun Athletic but were able to pick themselves up straight away to win the next league match 8-0 away from home. Following this the team won again at home before a shock defeat at the hands of up and coming side Indopendencia. The manager made sure he batted away any lingering cockiness amongst the players and secured the services of midfielder Gruja Djeric from The Ollstars and Brazilian right-back Enrico Bazilio on loan. The Beeches then went on another run which took them to the end of the season 10 games unbeaten. Beeches finished comfortably at the top of the table 20 points above second place with an amazing goal tally of 114 thanks once again to talismanic striker Patrik Lukats who managed to score 52 goals in total. Season 8 With promotion to league 1 came fresh expectation amongst Beeches fans, eagerly waiting to see whether they could handle the step up or slip straight back down into league 2. Prize money was invested into a number of new signings ito improve the squad to league 1 standard; experienced defender Val Woods brought in to strengthen the back line and two crucial loan signings brought attacking flair with veteran playmaker Iulian Dovleac from Cobham SGS Eagles and young English striker Drew Brownlow loaned in from Cheam Stars United FC. Another talented player, Bosnia and Herzegovinian striker Slobodan Kraljevic, was signed to partner Brownlow up front for a record sum of £1,081,000. The season did not get off to a promising start with a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Merlin Magic XI away from home but the team pulled together to draw the second match 0-0 against another strong side in Walton FC. Beeches quickly found their feet and followed this match with a four-game winning streak, with Brownlow and Kraljevic notching 18 goals between them. Beeches then travelled to Bully's Boys who were currently in third place and unbeaten in all league matches. Against the full strength team, the Beeches did well to equalise twice and take a point putting the club fourth in the table. The team were also doing relatively well in the National Cup competition, heading into the fourth round match against Shadowdale, loanee Drew Brownlow was joint fourth top goalscorer in the competition having scored 13 goals in the two games played so there was much optimism, despite the strength of the opponents. The team performed incredibly to match a strong Shadowdale side and draw 1-1 at full time, deciding the match with a penalty shootout which Beeches won 4-2 to record a famous, heroic victory in the clubs relatively short history. Attention was soon turned back to the league as Beeches crashed out of the cup in the next round, again drawing against a better team but losing the close shootout 5-4. The team dusted themselves and played out a ten game unbeaten run with nine victories and a single draw which lasted until the end of the season and elevated the club from fourth to second place in the table, level on points with the champions Walton FC though with a lower goal difference. Before the end of the season, the Beeches had looked to strengthen the squad early, snapping up a young talent in nineteen year old Danish goalkeeper Tobias Davidsen, who was sent straight into the action. Not only did the club finish in second place, but loanee Drew Brownlow finished the league's top goalscorer with a total of 58 league goals, helping to secure the Beeches a place in league 1 for season 9 with a realistic title challenge on the cards. Club Rivals A rivalry developed between the two local clubs in the Carshalton area as soon as they were set up. The then Carshalton Beeches AFC and AFC Carshalton met several times with results going either way. At first the rivalry was jokingly compared to that of the two great Milan teams, but has never been anywhere near as violent and heated. The rivalry was elevated slightly when Beeches crashed out of league 1 whilst Carshalton had a terrific debut season in league 1 finishing second. Since the formation of Carshalton Beeches United the clubs have never met in a competitive match, meeting several times in friendly matches. The first of which was in fact the newly formed clubs first game. The match was played out at Beech Tree Park on 13th February 2008 and ended goalless; the old rivalry was rekindled. The second match also took place at Beech Tree Park and ended 1-0 to Beeches Utd. However, since then AFC Carshalton who are currently much the stronger side have managed to get the edge of Beeches, though this may be set to change given Beeches recent surge up the English League. Head to Head record between Carshalton Beeches United and AFC Carshalton: Feb 13th 2008 Carshalton Beeches United 0-0 AFC Carshalton July 24th 2008 Carshalton Beeches United 1-0 AFC Carshalton Sep 29th 2008 AFC Carshalton 2-0 Carshalton Beeches United Oct 27th 2008 Carshalton Beeches United 0-1 AFC Carshalton Jan 05th 2009 Carshalton Beeches United 1-1 AFC Carshalton Jul 20th 2009 Carshalton Beeches United 0-2 AFC Carshalton There are several other rivalries that are far less high profile. All reside in the local area and the most notable are Cobham SGS Eagles, Cheam Stars United FC and Palace Crystal. Latest News "Season Will Go Right Down To The Wire" Despite only having reached the half-way point of the season following this afternoons fixture, Beeches manager jammy81 was already looking forward to the end of the campaign which he can see being an exciting climax. "This season will go right down to the wire," the manager proclaimed during the post-match interview. "It was disappointing to lose to Merlin last month and allow them a 5 point cushion above us, but two matches on and suddenly it is looking a lot more open." These claims came after this afternoons matches, in which top of the table side Merlin Magic XI drew 0-0 away to Chris Cracker's FC whilst Beeches continued their good run of form to take 3 points from their fixture with a convincing 3-1 victory over Menel Minkowice, and Beeches cut the gap above them to just three points. "The next two matches against tough opposition will be crucial if we want to challenge for the title and the end of the season will be tight, facing Merlin away with just three games to go and especially as Merlin face the team they dropped two points against today again on the final day. I look forward to it." 8/12/09 Stadium Carshalton Beeches United play their home matches at Beech Tree Park Stadium, a ground steeped in a large amount of recent history. Originally, the stadium was built for the previous club Carshalton Beeches AFC, named after the surrounding park full of Beech Trees, which originally caused the settlement to be named Carshalton Beeches. However when the club fell apart the stadium was abandoned and fell into disrepair, a victim of theft and arson leaving it a shadowed skeleton of its former self. However, when the new club Beeches United was formed the owners decided to repair the old, historic stadium and use it as their home-ground. The first match was played in the new, renovated stadium on the 13th February in 2008, an exhibition match between Carshalton Beeches United and local, reestablished rivals AFC Carshalton. In the break between seasons 6 and 7 the stadium was expanded to 1,600 seats to meet the demand and corners were built onto the stadium. Due to the promotion to league 1 won in the 7th season the stadium was again expanded to just above 2000 seats to meet the expected increase in ticket sales. After finishing second in league 1 in their first season, the club officials decided a further expansion would benefit both the club and supporters, so the stadium was expanded to 3000 seats, the first match in the new stadium played against Menel Minkowice in the youth league, a match Beeches won 4-0. A long term plan for the stadium has been discussed, with the long term goal of developing Beech Tree Park into one of the best stadiums in the country. The development project was split into stages, with the first phase of construction taking place in the off season before Beeches third season in League 1, which saw the stadium expanded to 3925 seats. Current Squad Club Records Greatest victory: Indopendencia 0-19 Carshalton Beeches Utd on 21.11.09 Greatest loss: Carshalton Beeches Utd 0-6 Arun Athletic on 29.04.08 Greatest attendance: 3,925 vs Crusaders on 31.10.2009 Record transfer received: £241,000 paid for Kuido Lill from FC Baltika on 04.06.09 Record transfer paid: £1,081,000 paid for Slobodan Kraljevic to Westhumble Town on 23.12.08 All-Time Most Appearances: All-Time Top Goalscorers: Category:Football Clubs Category:English Clubs